Clash Royale Update

Background Information

This is the update that happened a few days ago. If you have not kept up with the forums, this read will help you understand if any new changes will affect your deck in major or minor ways. These updates may also make a new meta to Clash Royale.

New Balance Live! (8/24)

The way we approach card balance in Clash Royale is a combination of play testing and looking at the stats – in particular, card use rates and win rates – we also pay close attention to card interactions and the current meta. You can expect monthly balance changes to keep game play fine tuned and as fun as possible.

In this round of balance changes we’re taking a look at the Royal Giant, several of the Legendary Cards and much more!

Royal Giant: Hit Speed decreased to 1.7sec (from 1.5sec) – We like that the Royal Giant is a strong and relatively easy to use offensive option. However, he’s too strong right now – this change will allow him to stay relevant, but make him a bit easier to deal with. Additionally, his first attack will happen a bit slower.

Zap: Stun Duration decreased to 0.5sec (from 1sec) – Zap is highly used at all levels of play and currently offers a bit too much versatility for 2 Elixir.

Princess: Area Damage radius decreased by 25% – We’d like to make the Princess slightly less reliable at clearing up everything in the vicinity of her target.

Ice Wizard: Hit Points decreased by 5% – Considering how much control he offers, the Ice Wizard is a bit too tanky for his 3 Elixir cost. He’ll still be very strong at the back, but doesn’t offer the same value in the middle of the action.

Miner: Deploy Time increased to 1sec (from 0.7sec), Hit points decreased by 6% – We’re fixing an unintentional Deploy Time change, and in doing so making the Miner a bit easier to react to once again. Additionally, it’s become clear that the Miner is quite strong and could do with being toned down a notch.

Baby Dragon: Hit Speed increased to 1.6sec (from 1.8sec) – A faster Hit Speed, including a quicker first attack, will make the Baby Dragon more reliable.

Dark Prince: Damage increased by 7.5% – The Dark Prince’s stats aren’t quite on par with some other 4 Elixir options. A small damage buff should make him a more viable alternative in both defense and offense support.

Bowler: Elixir cost decreased to 5 (from 6), Hit points decreased by 7%, Damage decreased by 10% – A lower Elixir cost should allow for some interesting Bowler synergies to become viable. We’re taking a bit of damage and hitpoints away from him to help compensate for this pretty big change.

Lumberjack: Speed increased to Very Fast (from Fast), Hit Speed increased to 0.7sec (from 1.1sec), Damage decreased by 23% – We’d like to differentiate the Lumberjack from the Mini P.E.K.K.A a bit further, as both are 4 Elixir, high damage cards. This change should help them fill quite different roles in your deck.

The Log: Cast time decreased by 66%, travel speed increased by 20% – The Log needs some love. This change will make it more consistent and reliable. (Note: We have some other tricks up our sleeves if this isn’t enough, but they are only possible to implement with a full update)

Golem: Hit and Death Damage increased by 5%, Hit points increased by 1%Golem ite: Hit and Death Damage increased by 8%, Hit points increased by 3.2% – At 8 Elixir the Golem needs a lot of power to feel viable – these changes will hopefully get it there!

P.E.K.K.A: Damage increased by 5% – P.E.K.K.A has quite low use rates across the board and could do with some more muscle! We’re also making her first attack happen a bit quicker.

Tombstone: Spawn Speed increased to 2.5sec (from 2.9sec) – We’re looking to give the Tombstone more utility in both offense and defense.

Archers: Damage increased by 2% – This tiny damage increase is just to fix an inconsistency with the Archers vs. Goblins interaction at certain levels.

Prince: Damage increased by 2% – This tiny damage increase is just to fix an inconsistency with the Prince vs. Barbarians interaction at certain levels.

Previously, players above 3000 Trophies have been reset to 3000 every two weeks – this is the “Season” – and are awarded Legend Trophies for all deducted Trophies. Starting from the current Season, which begins today, players will be reset to 4000 Trophies at the end of the Season instead.

We’d like all players to be able to progress smoothly throughout the Arenas, eventually reaching the Legendary Arena and ultimately gaining access to all the cards. Increasing the Season reset to 4000 Trophies will help achieve this by reducing the amount of players battling around the 3000 range and fighting for a place in the Legendary Arena.

Additionally, we deployed a change to the Trophy system on 8/15 to work in conjunction with this. Before the 8/15 change, climbing from 0-1000 Trophies would always grant the winner more Trophies than the loser lost. We increased this threshold to 2000 Trophies. Note: After 2000 Trophies, the Trophy win/loss ratio is 1-1.

The combination of these two systems will help players progress more smoothly throughout the Arenas and gain access to more cards; and once you’ve reached the Legendary Arena, you should have an easier time staying there!

Also, we have some neat ideas for making the “endgame” (3000+ Trophies) and Seasonal Trophy push a compelling place to be, but more on this later down the line!

About The Author

I am a Clash Royale player since the end of January during the soft launch. To this day, I remain a free to play player with a knowledgeable outlook on many different types of strategies. At level 8 I reached the peak of 3424, at level 9 I reached 3647, and now I'm sitting well over 4000 trophies. I love sharing strategies, decks, and other useful information by writing blog posts for you guys.